Publishing companies are expanding online offerings in health and fitness in an effort to capitalize on the growing consumer tendency to seek health information online. Recently, Hearst Magazines announced their decision to acquire RealAge, Inc. This trend may mean cost savings for health advertisers via print and online media packages.

Full Article from NYTimes.com

eMarketer projects that pharmaceutical companies will increase spending online by almost 25% this year, to $780 million, as marketers look for more targeted tactics. "Pharmaceutical companies' advertising and marketing tactics are rapidly changing directions and channels...The result is a shift in focus from 'direct-to-consumer' to 'direct-to-patient,' from mass marketing to relationship marketing", says senior analyst Lisa E. Phillips.

Full Article from eMarketer

A new study by Outsell, Inc. is the first to compare and analyze Internet spending among business, healthcare and consumer advertisers. The report details "where, why and how fast" these advertisers are moving online, as well as the impacts of these shifts on print ads, events, and TV/radio.

Full Article from TMCnet.com

Article reveals the top ten pharma product websites as visited by U.S. adult consumers in the past year. The top 3 spots are held by Allegra, Zoloft, and Liptor respectively.

Full Article from Yahoo! News

What lies ahead for online health site? Can sites like WebMD continue to produce positive figures in an in industry saturated with competition, regulated by market trends, and stung by direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns?

Full Article from BusinessWeek Online

The share of advertising dollars allocated to online, now about 5%, is rising faster than expected. Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy predicts that the tipping point - the inflection point when online spending growth will accelerate - will happen in the latter half of 2006. Rashtchy cites the convergence of overall industry growth, the benefits to offline campaigns, and recent online spending increases from major advertisers as the drivers.

Full Article from ClickZ

A new website created by a San Francisco based sexual health organization allows users to order and receive STD tests results online. The site offers its users convenience, ease, and anonymity not available in clinics.

Full Article from e-Health Insider

How appropriate is it to use behavioral marketing for pharmaceutical brands? Particularly for conditions that are sensitive such as STDs, impotence, and depression? Many pharma companies have chosen to stay away from the tactic because of the perception that users, especially users suffering from stigmatized conditions, are being tracked or stocked online.

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Steve Warshaw, VP business development at ACNeilson, sheds light on a new way that can help brands to reach out to their target audience online through tracking and analyzing behaviors. The research will be conducted by Consumer Direct Online, and although this service is not cheap, the ROI across the current client base is very promising.

Full Article

The most important constituents in health care, physicians and their patients, are going to benefit immensely from future developments in e-health. This article addresses several guidelines developed by the Boston Consulting Group that companies should follow in order to maximize the success of their e-health services.

Full Article

Online market research is coming of age in 2004 as pharma marketers embrace the Internet as an effective alternative to traditional means such as telephone and structured face-to-face interviews. Conducting quantitative market research online is proving to be more effective, faster, cheaper and preferred by physicians over traditional means. This article also discusses some of the pitfalls of online market research to be avoided. Read more here.

DoubleClick's Year in Online Advertising 2003 report points to a resurgence in online advertising as ads got more dynamic and Fortune 500 marketers embraced the medium. Some highlights include:
- In 2003, ad spending grew 20% year-over-year to $7.2 billion
- Larger, traditional advertisers began to replace "dot-coms" as the top online marketers
- Internet spending growth outpaced magazines and network TV in Q3
- Rich media share of advertising has grown in conjunction with broadband usage
- Search impact is highest in areas with new/unfamilar products, like prescription drugs

Today we're launching GreaterRx.com, an industry resource from the strategists at Greater Than One. GreaterRx will be a frequently updated journal (or blog) covering the latest news and opinion on the growing marketplace for online pharmaceutical marketing.

Topics we'll be discussing include:

• Best practices


• Industry trends


• Statistics and studies

Industry analysts expect online advertising will grow at a double-digit pace for at least the next few years, with 12% to 20% growth forecasted in 2004. DoubleClick predicts that online advertising will begin to take market share away from TV in 2004 as marketers shift more advertising dollars online to match consumer habits.